Unemployment Claims

[JessJen]

When I filed my mass claim it was as simple as walking into one of the offices doing the paper work there, giving them my home address, and then going home and collecting the cheque.  I didnt have to file anything with florida where I lived at the time of the claim. Reinstating it was a jiff too, just called up and told them where i worked and boom cheque was there in no time flat. 

[thenukeman]

What is the quarter deal here.  Do you have to have 4 or 5 quarters. I know some states take 5 quarters but do not count your last quarter.  Also what is the minimum you have to make a quarter to get your maximum unemployment.

[Rennhack]

What is the quarter deal here.  Do you have to have 4 or 5 quarters. I know some states take 5 quarters but do not count your last quarter.  Also what is the minimum you have to make a quarter to get your maximum unemployment.

They ask for the names and addresses of all of the employers you have worked for during the last 15 months and the dates you worked for each of these employers.  However, they calculate it based on the 2 highest quarters in the last 4 quarters.  You need to make 15k in those quarters to get the max benefits of $575/wk for 30 weeks.

Here is the answers to ALL of your questions:
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=dlwdconstituent&L=2&L0=Home&L1=Claimants&sid=Edwd

[hamsamich]

some states have a minimum amount you had to make to use the quarter; in PA I think it was 4 thousand.  but look that up....also, some states will let you use an alternative method to file (using less than 4 qtrs) if you don't have enough work history, but the amount of weeks you get paid drops from 30 to 13 or so, and you still have to wait a whole year to start a new claim so it may not be worth it.  Mass does this, but i can't remember what it was exactly.  I think they would allow you to use the previous quarter and the actual quarter you were in while you were filling.  I did it but I already forgot exactly what I did now!  I was paid for 13 weeks only and used 2 quarters (one of the quarters was the one i was still in!) when I first got back into  the bizzness after being out for 4 years.

[wlrun3@aol.com]

    as with states other than massachusetts...by last four quarters you mean... not the quarter we're in or the quarter preceding it (called the lag quarter), but the four quarters prior...
   now is fourth quarter of 2006 (i file)...lag quarter is third quarter of 2006, not considered ...wages considered would be third and fourth quarter of 2005 and first and second quarter of 2006...am i right?

[hamsamich]

i don't think so...i think if you filed right now it would be based on 1,2,3 qtr in 2006 and 4 qtr in 2005. no positive though

[wlrun3@aol.com]

   "The primary base period that is, the period containing the weeks of work that are first used to calculate unemployment insurance claims is the last four completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the date on which your claim is effective."

   copied this from the massachusetts site...washington, the previously favored state, had a lag quarter...

   
   

[dsass]

You can file in Mass using your own address.  Only thing is you have to physically be in a Mass unemployment office to open the claim.

[indoprime]

Can I cancel a claim in one state (Nevada) to open up another claim in Mass?  Or am I stuck for the rest of my claim year?

[hamsamich]

i've asked that question to mass and pa and BOTH said I gotta wait the year out...

[thenukeman]

Thats what I have been told too.  If you open a claim you are stuck for it for one year.  There is no recourse. But after a year as long as you made the Mass 15 grand a quarter average for two quarters then you will get a minimum of 551 a week plus 25 dollars for child dependents for 30 weeks. 

[wlrun3@aol.com]

Thats what I have been told too.  If you open a claim you are stuck for it for one year.  There is no recourse. But after a year as long as you made the Mass 15 grand a quarter average for two quarters then you will get a minimum of 551 a week plus 25 dollars for child dependents for 30 weeks. 

   if you exhaust the funds in the claim, you can file a new claim in another state...you don't have to wait until the original benefit year is up...

   troy...am i correct?

[hamsamich]

i tried to do EXACTLY what you are talking about and was told no way by 2 different states (PA and MA).

[Already Gone]

Your claim lasts for a year.  If you have exhausted the funds for the year, you may be able to apply for an extension, if one is available.
BTW, that $15,000 average for two quarters really could be $28,652 in one quarter and ZERO  in all the others.  MA just adds your two highest quarters, divides the total by 26 to get your weekly average, and divides that again to get your weekly maximum benefit.
There are some other rules too.  You should refer to the websites that Mike has posted above.

[hamsamich]

i probably should have dug a little deeper, but they both told me no.  they may be wrong because both state's UI offices have proven inept at other times.

[lrunget]

I have exhausted combined wage claim in Michigan and California and have been able to open a claim in the other state even though my benefit year had not ended in the other state.  Never had any problem doing that as long as I open a claim in a state other than the one where I had exhausted the funds.  I called Pa a few weeks ago and asked them if I exhausted my Mi claim, can I file a combined claim there and they told me yes!? I did not ask Mass. I don't think you can cancel a claim in another state but you can open if your funds are exhausted.   

[thenukeman]

How do they claim your quarters?  I thought once a state claimed your quarters, another can not claim them?  I know you can work after your claim but if you exhausted your 6 months on unemployment you will have goose eggs or low amounts if you have not worked much or you will only have 2 or 3 quarters to claim from since the other state took them if you do not wait a year.  Can some one explain this? Do you get a lower amount and a lesser time frame you collect?

[vikingfan]

lrunget, I was told the same thing by pa. they said that once my funds are exhausted i can open another claim in another state.

[hamsamich]

i THINK states will use as few quarters as they can  to get you your max amount of money in an order to save more recent quarters for future use. for instance, I think if the state can use your most distant 2 quarters to max you out, the more recent quarters will still be available for any legal claim.  not sure though.  I've been told so many things that were wrong by the 2 different (PA and MASS) UI offices, i never know what is real and what isn't.  for instance, mass wasn't going to let me file using the alternative filing method (for people with hardly any work history) because the person I was talking to either didn't know it exsisted or was playing ignorant.....I had to show it to him in the MASS-UI handbook.

[thenukeman]

When you apply initially most states will take your last 4 quarters which will leave you nothing forward, so if you are off the next 6 months and are not working how can you use these 2 quarters. even if you work a few months during this time , you will have little to draw from for three quarters, if you work 1 to 3 months which will put you at 7-9 months from your initial claim.  I know some people have been saying I think that is how it works, but no one is saying how much they make actually from a less than 1 year claim. I understand a extension makes sense, but applying again with less than a year seems stupid to me. why not work 2 good quarters and reapply after a year and get your maximum.  Explain this please,  I'll entertain the thought that I am stupid but need to be enlightned by actual fact from someone who has actually done this or knows exactly how it works instead of saying I think this is how it works.

[thenukeman]

Alternate Base Period
Is based on the wages paid during the three most recently completed calendar quarters, plus the time between the last completed quarter and the effective date of your claim. If you are not monetarily eligible for benefits using the primary base period, and would be eligible using the alternate, DUA will automatically use this method to determine your benefits. Also, you may elect to use the alternate base period if you provide credible documentation showing that your Benefit Credit would be increased by at least 10% by using the alternate base period
I got this off Mass Unemployment.  Now I am trying to figure if this would be of a benefit.  There was no clear way they showed how they calculate this or if you would get less money.  This would mean you would need at least 9 months after 1st initial claim.  Can some one show a benefit of this or would this be preferred?  I guess it depends on circumstance.  It also seems that they will not let you use this unless you do not have a initial 4 quarters or show that you would make more money using this.

[thenukeman]

Alternate base seems to help low wage earners.  I found one more thing on alternate base.  It seems to me that most HP's would benefit by filing yearly.  But this is available.  If I am wrong Enlighten me.   I have enlightned myself somewhat in the last hour.  See below,  I guess  have posted enough LOL,

Unemployment Insurance

State Material


What Is An "Alternative Base Period" And Why Does My State Need One?
(April 2003)

Introduction: Over recent decades, unemployment insurance (UI) programs have paid UI benefits to fewer unemployed workers in part because UI eligibility rules have not kept pace with changes in the labor market. In 2002, about 45 percent of all unemployed workers collected unemployment insurance benefits. This number is smaller for low-wage workers. In many states, a significant reform bringing more low-wage workers into the UI system is the alternative (or alternate) base period. This fact sheet explains how ABPs help laid off workers, especially low-wage and part-time workers. The Addendum discusses some drafting issues regarding alternative base period legislation.

What are alternative base periods and how do they work? Alternative Base Periods, or ABPs, are found in eighteen states, most of them adopted in the past five years. Basically, ABPs allow more workers to qualify for benefits by adding flexibility when determining monetary eligibility for UI benefits.

All states use a base period, or base year, to determine whether laid off workers have earned enough wages to qualify for UI benefits. A base period is typically four calendar quarters. (The calendar quarters are January through March, April through June, July through September, and October through December.)

Most traditional states define their base periods as "the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters." Depending upon when a UI claim is filed and how the state defines its base period, the quarters of wages considered can include wages earned as long as 18 months prior to the filing of the UI claim, with more recent wages excluded.



As our illustration shows, with a traditional base period, wages earned in the current calendar quarter (the "filing quarter") and the intervening calendar quarter (the "lag quarter") are not used to determine if a laid off worker qualifies for UI benefits. States with ABPs permit workers to use these more recent lag quarter wages.

Here's a specific example: Marcos files a claim for UI benefits on June 23, 2002, having worked from October 13, 2001 to his layoff on June 23, 2002. He worked at the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour for 25 hours per week (totaling 36.5 weeks and $4,699.38 in earnings). Despite this significant amount of work, Marcos does not qualify using a traditionally defined base period requiring $1500 in earnings during the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters. His hypothetical state recognizes only $1480.63 in earnings for the 11.5 weeks of work that falls within the fourth quarter of his base period. However, under an ABP, he qualifies based on the $1673.75 in the lag quarter (and, in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Vermont , also the $1545.00 of wages in his filing quarter).



What states have adopted ABPs? Eighteen states have adopted ABPs (Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin), representing well over one-third of the nations UI claims. In 2002, four states joined the ranks of ABP states, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, and Oklahoma. New Mexico and Virginia adopted ABP legislation in early 2003.

Who gets helped by ABPs? Studies show that up to one in five workers failing to qualify for UI benefits because their earnings did not meet their states' monetary eligibility requirements end up qualifying under ABPs. The highest proportion of these of these are low-wage or part-time workers. Seasonal workers, including those in the building and construction trades, also benefit from ABPs because these workers earn wages concentrated in fewer quarters of their base periods in many states. Unemployed workers who previously collected welfare are also more likely to collect unemployment benefits as a result of the ABP. Because more recent wages are used, ABPs result in higher weekly UI benefits in some states as well.

What are the costs of ABPs? According to a national study of the states that have adopted the ABP, the costs of administering ABPs have not been significant. On average, the benefits paid out of the UI trust funds have increased by 4-6%. Given the comparably large numbers of workers who benefit from ABPs, this cost is justified. In calculating the costs of ABPs, states should take into account that a fair proportion of workers would have eventually drawn UI if they remained unemployed and filed later, valid UI claims. In addition, because those qualify using the ABP include a higher proportion of low-wage workers, their unemployment benefits are lower than average as well.

Who can we call to help? The National Employment Law Project provides advice and support for policy makers and advocates relating to unemployment insurance, including ABPs. Contact our UI Safety Net Project through Maurice Emsellem at (510) 663-5700 or emsellem@nelp.org.     


EDIT: Deleted 1 page of wasted space-RT                                           

[indoprime]

Ok,

SO once my funds are exhausted in one state, I can open up another claim in MA or PA?  What about WA? I thought their benefits were on par w/ MA and PA???

[lrunget]

In my case my ui claim uses all my wages up to the 3rd qtr of 2005.  I did not make as much money for that claim as I will for my next claim.  So from Mi, where the max is $360.  I am getting 16 weeks @ $250.  (I did not know all that I do now about Mass and Pa)  Since I worked so much this year, I have 2 weeks left of ui to use and will use that after I finish here at PI and start a new claim in January in Pa.  If I file in Mass in Jan, they will use my earnings for 2006 only(I think) and then I lose my last qtr of 2005 wages.  Since I want to use 4th qtr of 2005 and the first three of 2006 for a claim,I am going with Pa for the $497 for 26 wks. Mass would be 518 for 26 but I would have to finish here by 12/9 to file in Mass so it makes more sense to work longer and have this qtr in the bank for another claim!  If I had waited to file this year(Feb) so I had more money for a claim, I would have had to wait until April and at the time I was not sure where I would be working in the spring.  (dose jobs not so easy to find) 
So yes, it can be for less money and less weeks and not all states use the lag qtr and I still am not sure about Mass,(will verify when I am on days)  but am sure about Pa.  My husband used Wa but you do have to do the work searches and for me, Pa and Mass are closer.  Mn pays well too but you have to make a lot more to max out.  A lot of the craft file in Mn.  Hope this helps?

[radmax]

I know this has been asked and answered before (and I have read all of Beercourts posts), but...
I was inquiring about the IB1 form and Arizona Unemployment just told me that to file here in AZ (and any place else she knows of), you MUST have an AZ address (likewise all other states). 
She stated that to file a combined wage claim here, you must live here... and it was comitting fraud to use an address here while living somewhere else.  As I am flying out Wed. Night to Boston, this has now got me thinking...

So the question is, does MASS require an instate MA address to file combined wage claims or not... or does the Public Servant I just spoke to just not know what she is talking about.  I did file in MASS several years ago using a PO Box there, and then drove back here to AZ, so would I be covered that way?

Any help is appreciated.